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It’s where he prefers pitching — with a rush of adrenaline and a shorter workload to speed up his fastball — and after a strong spot start on Monday against the Chicago White Sox, it’s where he’ll return for the remainder of the season.

“As long as I’m on the field,” Ryan said, “it doesn’t matter.”

Ryan took a loss Monday, but threw seven strong innings, allowing two earned runs on six hits. He struck out two and walked one over 91 pitches.

This season, the left-hander has served in a number of roles for the Tigers — in the rotation for a brief period and out of the bullpen for the most part — and likely will have a defined role when he arrives in Lakeland, Fla., next spring.

“I think it’s probably in the bullpen,” manager Brad Ausmus said Monday. “I think he would rather pitch in the bullpen. I’d imagine there would be a decision made on him at some point.”

Since Ryan returned from Triple-A Toledo on Sept. 1, Ryan has allowed six runs on 18 hits in 17 2/3 innings. While with the Mud Hens in a starting role this summer, he said that he cut back on his sinkerball, which hasn’t been effective for him this season.

“The way I got here was throwing in — fastballs and cutters inside, breaking bats — and obviously I changed for a minute,” he said earlier in the month. “I was told to go back to the old me by a couple of different guys. I did that in August and it worked.”

Left-hander Matt Boyd will start on Friday against the Twins, right-hander Alfredo Simon on Saturday and left-hander Randy Wolf on Sunday as the team closes out its home schedule this weekend.